Osmocote Plus Plant Food: Discuss Its Use With Cannabis Here!

[TIG2]

I had a problem with a Calcium/Magnesium deficiency in my first grow (a coco hempie with OC+).

I have not had a problem with my second grow. I added a cup of dolomite lime and a teaspoon of Epsom salts to each 5 gallon planting bucket with the OC+ and mixed it with a 50-50 mix of perlite and coco. I water with Cal-Mag monthly but use tap (well) water for most watering.

 

[paw-paw]

i think it's more the coco than the mj. i didn't have any trouble in soil or pro-mix, but it seems that when coco is involved is where that def. happens. just my observation.

 

[SmokzAlot]

i think it's more the coco than the mj. i didn't have any trouble in soil or pro-mix, but it seems that when coco is involved is where that def. happens. just my observation.

Correct it holds on to it instead.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Correct it holds on to it instead.

Did I read somewhere it got worse if you let the coco medium dry out?

 

[Vapedogg223]

i think it's more the coco than the mj. i didn't have any trouble in soil or pro-mix, but it seems that when coco is involved is where that def. happens. just my observation.

It can be the coco, but I was in soil... a few different mixes also. It's also like the OC+ in the medium runs out to Calcium and Magnesium way before it should. Like I said... top dress with a little more OC+ and it will go away.

One of the things I've been looking very closely at while gearing up to make the switch to organics is the water retention properties of the soil mix. Many soil mixes recommended for cannabis drain, and then dry out very quickly. Not really a good thing with organics, as the micro orgizianisms need to stay moist to stay alive. Anyway, I started wondering if since OC+ was designed for the outdoor garden, which usually means much heavier soil, if that might have something to do with, we could be just flushing the calcium out of the soil.

Anyway, just thinking out loud... I had started playing around to see how much OC+ I could incorporate at the beginning without causing problems to see if that would help, but then I started looking at organics. Not really that big a deal to have to throw another tablespoon in at some point in your grow I don't think...

 

[SmokzAlot]

Did I read somewhere it got worse if you let the coco medium dry out?

The best I can recall somewhere I read, was that frequent watering was like mini flushes. My thoughts with coco is to prime it and keep it that way. Could it possibly lockout when dry I don't know.

 

[SmokzAlot]

Buffered and Non-Buffered Coco Coir

Coco coir in its natural state contains a lot of sodium ions, which cling to the coco coir like a magnet on the cation exchange sites, and is also rich in potassium. In order to make coco coir suitable for use as a growing media it must be pretreated or 'buffered' before use. The buffering process involves pre-soaking the coir for 12-24 hours with a buffering solution high in calcium; this displaces the sodium and balances the naturally occurring potassium. After the soaking period the media is washed with water, this removes the displaced sodium, leaving the calcium in the coir. This buffering process prevents unwanted draw down or 'lockout' of calcium and magnesium, and avoids sodium toxicity issues. Luckily for us home growers, most pre-packaged coir products in grow stores are buffered at the point of manufacture and will be ready to use, however; it doesn't hurt to check the packaging before use!


Full read in my Blog

 

[SmokzAlot]

Buffered and Non-Buffered Coco Coir

Coco coir in its natural state contains a lot of sodium ions, which cling to the coco coir like a magnet on the cation exchange sites, and is also rich in potassium. In order to make coco coir suitable for use as a growing media it must be pretreated or 'buffered' before use. The buffering process involves pre-soaking the coir for 12-24 hours with a buffering solution high in calcium; this displaces the sodium and balances the naturally occurring potassium. After the soaking period the media is washed with water, this removes the displaced sodium, leaving the calcium in the coir. This buffering process prevents unwanted draw down or 'lockout' of calcium and magnesium, and avoids sodium toxicity issues. Luckily for us home growers, most pre-packaged coir products in grow stores are buffered at the point of manufacture and will be ready to use, however; it doesn't hurt to check the packaging before use!


Full read in my Blog

I think this may be the first time I have quoted myself

As I read and think about this, it make sense why my application of Cal/Mag @ 10ml per gal for about three feedings worked so well. I was filling and flushing both. Easing the CEC of calcium, erasing sodium ions, and balancing potassium along the way. Coco also has an extremely high CEC rate compared to other mediums, meaning it holds more with an equal affinity for sodium. So I suggest a heavier rescue application and ample watering in coco. Then a maintenance level or frequency of your choice.

Until further studies reveal new truths...

 

[paw-paw]

vape, u don't have to worry about too much oc+...it won't release more than u're plants can handle. i mis-read the instructions on the bottle & gave a couple of pots something like 4 times the recomended dose & they never burned. they grew just like the others. newer growers can use oc+ in hempy's & over water or over feed & won't kill plants. truely stoner-proof.

 

[Dr.Blue]

Not a coco fan yet, don't need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[WattSaver]

Thought I'd chime in. I've been using CRF's for a long time, even before this thread. I've used Dynamite purple & red, Fox Farms Marine Cuisine, and Osmocote 19-6-12, 14-14-14, and of course Plus.

What I run is a modified hempy - 1 gal soil core & top 3" soil around coil the rest perlite in a 3 gal bucket. 2 transplants

Here's what I found the osmocote products were the best, the FFMC was good but needed more than than recommended for real good results.

Among the osmocotes 14-14-14 is the best during flower. It's a 3 to 4 month formula and builds larger denser more resinous bud in my opinion.
The system I use, 1st transplant - clone/seedling cup to 1gal soil pot I use plus add 1 1/2 tbs. Go through another 6 to 8 wk veg. 2nd transplant to hempy bucket add 4 tbs of 14-14-14 send to flower space. I'm an fert booster in small % of normal dosages. At 3 to 4 wk I'll add (please forgive but it works great) MG Bloom Booster 15-30-15. Then at 5 to 6 wk I'll add KoolBloom or ChaChing (leaning more to the CC these days) The MG BB & CC both have micro nutes which makes up for the 14-14-14 not having any.

Hope you don't mind the interruption. Just what I've seen working with these products.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Among the osmocotes 14-14-14 is the best during flower. It's a 3 to 4 month formula and builds larger denser more resinous bud in my opinion.
The system I use, 1st transplant - clone/seedling cup to 1gal soil pot I use plus add 1 1/2 tbs. Go through another 6 to 8 wk veg. 2nd transplant to hempy bucket add 4 tbs of 14-14-14 send to flower space. I'm an fert booster in small % of normal dosages. At 3 to 4 wk I'll add (please forgive but it works great) MG Bloom Booster 15-30-15. Then at 5 to 6 wk I'll add KoolBloom or ChaChing (leaning more to the CC these days) The MG BB & CC both have micro nutes which makes up for the 14-14-14 not having any.

Seems to me that cannabis requires less nitrogen during flowering (after the stretch has ended, anyway). And on the other two, I've often heard that a 4:1 ratio was better than an even one.

Which seems to be inferred by the fact that you supplement the OC with other things that have a different nutritional balance.

What I'm getting at is that after reading your post, I wouldn't call the 14-14-14 OC best during flower. I'd be more inclined to state that it was best... for OC (if, indeed, that is the case*). Using the word "best" with no qualifiers... I'd expect that to mean you didn't have to supplement it with other nutrients in order to give your plants the correct ratio.

*I don't have experience growing (cannabis) with OC products, so I do not know if there is a different OC that releases the correct nutrients in the correct ratio during flowering (so that supplementation is not an issue) - which is why I added the "if that's the case" disclaimer; there may or may not be, IDK. I'm still trying to learn about their products.

What OC product are the people that are using OC (only) to feed their cannabis plants using?

 

[Vapedogg223]

Seems like a lot more work...14-14-14 OC doesn't have any micros in it, OC+ has everything our plants need...

I thought OC+ did a great job with resin production...

Here's a few more...

These were in 50/50 FFOF and FFLW. Nothing else, other than a topdressing of some more OC+ and some cal-mag after the calcium deficiency.

I guess what I'm wondering is how much better do you get for all the extra trouble?

 

[TorturedSoul]

These were in 50/50 FFOF and FFLW. Nothing else, other than a topdressing of some more OC+ and some cal-mag after the calcium deficiency.

That's what I was getting at, lol. To me the real "best product" is one where the use of additional nutrients/supplements can be minimized without affecting yield (or quality of same).

Doesn't matter which nutrient line a person uses, if we end up using 53 more products to... prop it up... then it's not going to qualify as "best" in my book.

Your plants look great, BtW.

I've seen a few people that used the odd - as in, not what everyone else uses - fertilizer and they got by with nothing else, but mostly people seem to always add something.

Well... Except for the people who mix up their own soil from the component parts and who don't really use commercially-branded products to do it. And people who vegetated for shorter periods of time.

I have been known to use supplements too "from time to time"(), so I'm not picking on anyone that does. Just hoping to learn about a product that really is "the best" in terms of providing an excellent yield of high-quality bud, and one that can't really be improved upon by adding "supplement X."

I'll say it again, your plants look great.

 

[Vapedogg223]

That's what I was getting at, lol. To me the real "best product" is one where the use of additional nutrients/supplements can be minimized without affecting yield (or quality of same).

Doesn't matter which nutrient line a person uses, if we end up using 53 more products to... prop it up... then it's not going to qualify as "best" in my book.

Your plants look great, BtW.

I've seen a few people that used the odd - as in, not what everyone else uses - fertilizer and they got by with nothing else, but mostly people seem to always add something.

Well... Except for the people who mix up their own soil from the component parts and who don't really use commercially-branded products to do it. And people who vegetated for shorter periods of time.

I have been known to use supplements too "from time to time"(), so I'm not picking on anyone that does. Just hoping to learn about a product that really is "the best" in terms of providing an excellent yield of high-quality bud, and one that can't really be improved upon by adding "supplement X."

I'll say it again, your plants look great.

brother TS that's one heck of a complement coming from you!

I totally agree bro. I actually don't even use OC+ anymore. I've switched to organics, and am about to try high brix techniques on my new grow. But I have an incredible amount of respect for any product that can grow...what, maybe 75 plants like that for less than $20 dollars? To me OC+ was all about keeping it simple.

 

[TorturedSoul]

I have an incredible amount of respect for any product that can grow...what, maybe 75 plants like that for less than $20 dollars?

Ya think?

Yeah, that really puts things into perspective, the price vs. yield.

We like to chase yield and wring every last gram out. But if a person is getting what they want - whatever that may be - out of their garden, and doing so for very little money... Who am I to argue.

 

[paw-paw]

i'd have to subscribe to the 'less is more' theory. of course, everybody has a different agenda. some growers are forced to maximize yield because of space constraints. personally, i have more room than money. btw, vape, i had forgotten how good those baseball bats turned out! thanks for reminding me. lol!

 

[Hash Hound]

Vapedogg

Did you add anything else besides OC+ to your soil? And whey you water, do you add any supplemental nutes? snowstorm? etc?

I have used a few additives and thought I would never sway away from OC+

However, this grow I have one plant of Critical+ with OC+, Hey I just realized I have + for +.

The other plants one each of Cream Carmel, Green Poison, and 2 plants of WW3rd gen clones and 2 of Cream Carmel x Querkle (my own seeds) are in organics. If I don't see a significant difference in taste, smell, yield, etc, it will be back to the OC+

Preliminary results for vegging are fantastic with the organics. The plants are just as lush green as the OC+ one is.

I had bad sprouting luck plus my bad veg management leaving me with plants of different ages and sizes in tight quarters. the Cr+ is 10 weeks veg and I have only picked 2 leaves that were starting to yellow. The other plants, CCxQ is 8 wks, WW3 clones are 7, CC and GP are 4 weeks, and not a single leaf had to be pulled for yellowing. Several were pulled to manage the room space. Pain having to use bucket risers to even out the canopy, but such is life. All were into 12/12 last Saturday.

 

[Vapedogg223]

Hash, I've been following DocBud's lead with organics. He's the one that got me interested in OC+...I figure he didn't steer me wrong there so why not try organics.

Doc claims he can definitely tell a difference with organics...I should try and find exactly what he said, but to paraphrase I think he described it as a cleaner high. The plants on his current grow might be the healthiest looking plants I've ever seen. I think he was just saying he was going to experiment with a combination OC+ and high brix methods on his next run.

I would tend to agree with switching back if you don't see a real improvement, it's just too easy.

Almost forgot your question! Those were just Osmocote Plus and cal-mag, nothing else...maybe a couple waterings with molasses. Later on I started amending the soil with Composts, EWC, Azomite, Kelp, greensand, lime, etc. I always like to start simple. Once I have something to compare it to, I then start adding stuff and see it there's a marked improvement.

 

[Dr.Blue]

I did an organic grow using OC+ and organic teas that resulted in some very sweet tasing smoke. Summer being upon me I am shutting down for the summer. Just not willing to fight the heat.